1. In your opinion, what's the worst thing that ever happened in the history of money collecting? The birth of the Euro in 2002, which signalled the death of 15 European currencies, namely the German Mark, the Netherlands Guilden, Italian Lire, Spanish Peseta, Portuguese Escudo, Irish Pound, Greek Drachma, Austrian Schilling, Finnish Markka, Slovenian Tolar, Cypriot Pound, Maltese Lira and the French, Belgian and Luxembourg Franc. Though economically beneficial, the transition inevitably led to 15 less currencies to collect, and that number just keeps on growing! By 2012 to 2014 an additional 9 countries will have ceded their currencies in favor of the euro :(2. What's your favorite banknote in your collection?
My favorite bill is the Commemorative $10 note from Australia which was the first banknote in the world to be printed on a non-fibrous polymer substrate. It is also worth noting that this particular bill that I have in my collection is from the limited first print run as it bears the prefix AA and is imprinted '26 January 1988'. The bill was printed and issued only in 1988.3. What's the oldest banknote in your collection?
My oldest banknote is a 1000 Mark German note which was printed in Berlin on the 21st of April 1910.4. What bills in your collection have the highest/lowest denomination?  The bill with the highest denomination or face value in my collection is a 500,000,000,000 Dinara note from Yugoslavia which was printed in 1993. It was sent to me through airmail by Marko Mihajlovic, a fantastic Slovenian collector.On the other hand, the bill with the lowest denomination in my collection is a one-fourth Dinar bill from Kuwait. 5. When and why did you start collecting?I started collecting in 1997 when i spent the summer of that year in Saudi Arabia, thanks to my daddylo who was then the incumbent Phil. ambassador and my mommyla (combined endearment terms for daddy-lolo and mommy-lola because my grandparents didn't want to be called lolo and lola). The first foreign bills that I had, aside from the common US Dollar, were Saudi Riyals. At that time, 1 Riyal = 7 Pesos, and 1 Riyal could buy any can of softdrink from the vending machines which were everywhere. At around the same time, my interest in collecting coins and stamps arose.
I started collecting because I was fascinated by the fact that each banknote tells a little story of its own. I also regard them as little pieces of artwork. It also isn't a so-so collection because it takes time and resourcefulness in order to build one's bill collection.
6. Where do you get your bills?Most of my banknotes came from either my relatives, friends or classmates. In fact, my 50 Dinar bill from Macedonia came from a classmate in French class whom I've only spoken to that first and last time. Very few of the bills came from my foreign travels. It is definitely more fun and more fulfilling to receive or exchange bills rather than buying them, so as much as possible, I avoid buying bills. It ruins the spirit of collecting. Although occasionally, it's also nice to buy bills from shops or from eBay especially if they're rare because you get to choose which one you like and they're usually uncirculated so they're as good as new.7. How many countries does your collection currently represent?As of the 28th of March 2007, exactly 81 countries including the Philippines are represented by my collection. The euro has not been included in the collection since I'm still using the currency here in France, thus, it is impractical to collect them. A country may have as few as 1 type of bill in my collection or as much as 9 types due to different denominations coming from the same country (i.e. China).8. What other things do you collect?  Aside from banknotes, i also have a collection of coins, stamps and rocks. My coins have filled 3 small albums while my stamps have filled 2 big albums and 2 small albums. The rocks are just in a small box. They're not really precious minerals, but some have fascinating properties.9. Have you exchanged any of your banknotes for pesos?  Yes, unfortunately. It was a stupid mistake and it will never happen again. My grandma gave me 15,000 Japanese Yen, which was equivalent to around PHP6,000 at that time. I exchanged them in order to buy a Diamond Viper V770 TNT2 Ultra Graphics Accelerator for my PC which was the top of the line at that time and was worth around PHP6500. I felt that it was worth it at that time, but as time went by, I realized what a waste it was. In fact, when I put it up for sale in order to upgrade to a higher card a few years later, i was only able to sell it for not more than PHP1000 because no one would buy it for more than that price. Moral lesson: Good things come to those who wait. It's the same thing when it comes to collecting. Don't hurry to fill your collection. Let it grow naturally. Meet foreign friends, travel abroad, deal with other collectors.10. Would you sell your collection in the future?Never. This collection will become an heirloom which will be passed on from generation to generation. I wish I knew what would become of it by 2097 (100 years after the collection started). When the time comes that money becomes an obsolete medium of exchange and credit cards and microchips begin to occupy its role in commerce, the value of this collection will definitely skyrocket. So I hope that none of my descendants make the mistake I made in question 9.
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